Ted Nugent to be GOP lawmaker’s State of the Union guest

Olivier Knox

The TicketFebruary 11, 2013

Last year, “Cat Scratch Fever” rocker Ted Nugent made headlines when he branded President Barack Obama as “evil” and “America-hating,” and described him and Democrats as coyotes who should be shot. On Tuesday, Nugent will attend Obama’s State of the Union address as a guest of Republican Texas Rep. Steve Stockman.

Some lawmakers are inviting victims of gun violence, and Obama is expected to push Congress to support a package of measures crafted in the aftermath of the slaughter of schoolchildren in Newtown, Conn., in December.

“I am excited to have a patriot like Ted Nugent joining me in the House Chamber to hear from President Obama,” Stockman said in a statement. “After the address I’m sure Ted will have plenty to say.”

Having plenty to say is what got The Nuge in hot water in April 2012 at a National Rifle Association convention. His controversial comments even rated the outspoken gun-rights advocate a visit from the Secret Service.

At that gathering, Nugent had declared, “If Barack Obama becomes the president in November, I will either be dead or in jail by this time next year."

Nugent praised NRA members, but warned that if they did not "get everybody in your lives to clean house in this vile, evil, America-hating administration, I don't even know what you're made out of."

"We need to ride into that battlefield and chop their heads off in November. Any questions?"

He added, "If the coyote's in your living room, pissing on your couch, it's not the coyote's fault. It's your fault for not shooting him." And he denounced the administration as "criminals" and said a Democratic victory in November would mean "we'll be a suburb of Indonesia next year"—an apparent reference to Obama's boyhood time there.